The Plain Dealer
In 20-some years, the bond between rappin' and ballin' has grown tighter - even if the raps of players-turned-performers haven't. It's been a love-hate-filled rocky road, though, loaded with cornball rhythms, baggy shorts, thrown punches and enough gold chains to slow down Shaquille O'Neal.
1984: Hip-hop pioneer Kurtis Blow pens the hoops dream "Basketball." OK, so the rap isn't exactly tight - "Basketball is my favorite sport / I like the way they dribble up and down the court / Just like I'm the King on the microphone / so is Dr. J and Moses Malone" - but it's the first rap to represent b-ball in the hip-hop 'hood.
1984: Michael Jordan enters the NBA and, within years, ushers in all sorts of hip-hop flava. Shorts get baggy, warm-up suits and gold chains get trendy, and Air Jordans become high fashion.
1986: Yo, Run-DMC summons fans to hold up their Adidas sneakers while rapping "My Adidas." The ode - "Got a pair that I wear when I'm playin' ball / With the heael inside make me 10 feet tall" - turns the shell-toe Superstar into the ultimate in playa-player footwear. Oh, yeah. It also scores a $1.5 million Adidas sponsorship for the trio.
1986: Converse rolls out the Weapon, a shoe geared toward fashionistas and ballers alike. The shoe has a little more bounce than the accompanying ad campaign, which features rappin' basketball players. Hey, we get the message.
1988: Public Enemy's hip-hop manifesto "Rebel Without a Pause" gives a shout out to bad- boy hoopster (and hip-hop icon) Charles Barkley: "Simple and plain / give me the lane / I'll throw it down your throat like Barkley."
1991: The University of Michigan's "Fab Five" take the court looking more like a hip-hop gang than a basketball team: heads shaved, shorts baggy and sagging, black socks and shoes and a battle cry straight out of a Geto Boys rap.
1992: Shaquille O'Neal launches his "musical career" on the "Arsenio Hall Show," rappin' with the Fu-Schnickens. Comical? That's nothing compared with what lies ahead.
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